Internal-combustion-engine valve



July 2, '1929. J. GOOD 1.719.508

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE VALVE 'Filed July 27, 1923 monne'vs Patented"July 2, 1929.

UNITED STTES PATENT orricfa.

JOHN GOOD, OF GARDEN CITY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNO'RTO GOODINVENTIONS COL', OFNEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF 'NEW'YORIL INTERNAL-COMBUST'ION-ENGINEVALVE.

Application filed July 27,

This invention concerns the design and organization of rotary,combustion-engine valves of thetype shown in my prior Patents No.1,230,291, June 19, 1917 and No. 1,329,521,Feb. 5, 1920 wherein therotary valve member functions to seal the port passage in a dry orunlubricated condition and without friction-producing or pressurecontact upon the corresponding part of the valve casing, and thisinvention more particularly consists in improvements in the means ofapplying and using such valves for controlling the inlet passage to theengine as Well as for controlling, by a single valve member, both theinlet and the exhaust passages. In the use of this type of valve for thecontrol of the engine inlet, difficulty has been experienced from theformation on the valve of a gummy material which tends to fill up thecrevice between the valve member and its casing, frequently sticking thevalve to the casing so that it is impossible to turn it. I haveascertained that this material is deposited out of the liquid fuel orgasolenc of the mixture sucked in from the carburetor and that itsformation and deposit on the valve are a function of the temperature ofthe valve and that, in consequence, it can be eliminated by a properadjustment and control of such temperature and my invention consistsbroadly in means to this-end. It also consists in the means and mannerof supporting the rotary valve member in its said dry-running relation,especially when it is organized in the engine so as to be subject tothrust in an endWise or axial direction by the cylinder pressure, theobject of thisindepend-ent part of my invention being to avoid thetendency for this type of valve, to develop a greater amount of heatfrom engagement of its seating or journal surfaces than can bepractically disposed of, or a greater extent of Wear displacement thanis Considered practical, and my invention therefore involves theprovision of the valve supporting means as a structure separate from thecylinder or cylinder head and applied thereto so that it may contain ajournal-seat or seats of extended diameter or area, and always of Widerdiameter than the port-sealing part of the valve member, therebyeffectually eliminating thedanger of any disturbance of the dry-runningrelationship of the valve member and casingduring vthe life of the 1923.Serial No. 654,100.

valve. `My invention further consists in Various othercollateralffeaijtures offconstruction hereinafter disclosed, such,zasthe provision of means for guarding against -the, entrance oflubricating oilinto the -portfsealingfcrevice and the utilization ofthevalve motion for promoting the. flow. of the cooling medium, as wellasthe general organization and relative disposition .of dryrunningvalves in relationto thevengine cylinder and other matters as willb.ereinafterl more fully appear. l p

In the accompanying drawings Fig l, represents a longitudinal. section,with parts in elevation, ofone form of construction embodying theinvention,

Fig. 2, being a section-thereof. on .the line II- II in the direction.of the arrows.-

Fig. 3, is a crosssection of'a modiiiedand preferred form,

Fig. 4, is a detail of the valve drive for this form, and

Fig. 5 is another form, j

Both forms illustratethe invention Iasap.-` plied toan air-cooledengine,y to whichgthe invention hasl especial relation although many ofthe features of the invention are equally applicable toI watencooledengines. In the case in.hand1the engineacylinden wall 1 is provided withYheat-ra.Cliata'u ig, 2 and with anexteriorv `casingg so arranged {that}air may flow through .the spacesjetmeen the iins, according .to-Well-known design'. The head wall of the-cylinder, -inthe pres;-y entcase, is formed integral'- vv-ith the f walls of the cylinder proper.and containsthe inlet passagevli anditheexhaust passage 5,both of whichare radiallydisposedwlth reference to a, single central fvalve: chamber6. This chamber is cylindrical or, circular in cross sectiona,nd,itsaxis ',ispill'lelftwthe axis of the engine cylinderandepreferablycoincident therewitli. yThe intersectionsof the inlet and exhaustassages-With its wall surface represent.Zorn` orm the Vvalve ports, andthesel are alternately; .opened and closed by the rotary member ofthevalve.` This member has' two portions or parts. which servediil`erent functions,-;alth'ough they may -be, and' preferably are,constituted,- of` a single piece of metal., One part, herein calledr theportedl part and marked 7, is contained within the-valve chamber Gebeingformed with an elbowfsha -d passa e adapted to register successimi;vwith lt e valve chamber ports, just referred to. The other part, hereincalled the journaled part and marked 8, is outside of the valve chamberand seated in a valve-supporting fixture so that it holds the portedpart of the member securely and permanently in its centralized positionin the valve chamber. As above mentioned the ported part within thevalve chamber, is designed to fit that chamber snugly but withoutfriction-producing engagement with the wall lsurface thereof, as setforth in my prior patents, and so that the microscopic crevice betweenthe opposing surfaces is competent to form the seal against the flow ofgas through the valve when the ports thereof are not in reg-- istry. Theabsence of any substantial pressure between said surfaces enables thispart of the valve member to rotate in the chamber without producing heatby friction and hence without the need of maintaining a film oflubricant between the said surfaces, the fact being that lubricant inthe portsealing crevice is not only unnecessary, but is a disadvantagein that it would be scraped up by the edges of the ports and becomebaked'therein so as to build up an obstruction to the gas flow. Thejournaled part 8 of the rotary valve member is supported by and mountedin a supporting structure 9 which may be variously designed and which isaccurately fitted to the engine cylinder or cylinder head, as the casemay be, and secured thereto in any proper manner, as by means of theseries of bolts indicated at 10. In the present case this structure 9 isformed as a single casting .with a surrounding apertured casing and twocross walls or spiders, 11 and 12, respectively designed to carry therace-rings 13 and 14 for the ball or roller bearing of the valve, whichstyle of bearing is preferred. The balls of the bearing 14 directlyengage with a tapercurved or coned portion of the journaled part of thevalve member, adjacent to the valve chamber 6 and of considerablygreater diameter. The balls of the other bearing engage acorrespondingly tapered or coned surface on the valve member which maybe of less diameter. Both these bearings, it will be observed, arearranged to sustain thrust in an endwise, upward, direction and areself-centering so that when the valvesupporting structure 9 has oncebeen accurately fitted to the cylinder they permanently maintain theported part 7 of the valve member in its accurately centralized,crevice-forming and dry-running position. The cylinder pressure isexerted against the end of the ported part 7 and thrusting endwise onthe valve member, tends to set the latter firmly against the balls. Inthe event of wear on the bearings, the displacement of the valve memberis entirely in an axial direction, without tending to tip the portedpart so as to distort its port-sealing function. It is important thatthe journal means adjacent the valve chamber be larger than saidchamber, whether constituted of balls or some other type of earing. Itis desirable also to keep the valve member constantly engaged with thisself-centering journal means which is done by means of a spring 15thrusting'against the top of the spider 11 and against the underside ofa skirted washer 16 pinned to the end of the Valve stem, a Washer 17being provided to allow the rotation of the valve Without rotating thespring. The valve member is rotated in the present case by a spiral gear18 fixed to its journaled part 8 between the bearings and driven by agear 19 carried on a shaft 20 journaled in the valve-supportingstructure 9, or elsewhere, as desired.

In the case of multicylinder engines the said shaft 20 is common to thevalves of all the cylinders of the block or row, and it will beunderstoodthat in the case where one valve controls both inlet andexhaust, it will be rotated a complete turn for each cycle, beingproperly connected to the crank shaft through the valve shaft 20 forthat purpose. Although ball bearings are preferred and found to beentirely practicable, it will of course be evident that they may besubstituted by ordinary journal bearings in which event the extendedseat area, made available by the large diameter of the journaled part ofthe valve member, will provide the same advantage. In order to preventthe entrance of lubricant into the portsealing crevice, the valve memberis provided with an enlargement between its bearings and the valvechamber. In the form of Figs. 1 and 2 this is a radial enlargement orflange formed in the shape of radial blades 21 which sling the oil awayfrom the valve chamber. These blades may also operate to produceorassist the flow of air into the valve-support 9 thereby assisting inthe general cooling of the engine but the use of the blades for thispurpose is optional, depending upon the kind of valve and thetemperature characteristics of the engine to which it is applied.

Referring to Figs. 3 and 4, it will be understood that the ported part 7of the valve member is related to the valve chamber 6 in thepressureless, dry-running position already described and is maintainedin such position by its journaled part 8 of considerably larger diameterthan the valve chamber. The journaled part is seated on two ballbearings 23 and 24 both carried in a separate valve-supporting structure25 fitted to the engine cylinder as before. The oil guard in this caseis formed by the radial enlargement 25 overhanging the top of the valvechamber 6 and the drive of the valve is applied at the end of its stemwhich pro- CII jects upwardly above the valve support. The drivingconnections are as follows The shaft 20, geared to the crank shaft,drives a spiral gear 27 journaled on an.up standing boss Q8 on the valvesupport 25, said gear 27 being provided with one or more upstandingfingers 29 loosely engaging radial slots formed in a collar 30, pinnedat 3l to the valve stem. By this means the rotation of the gear 27 istransmitted to the valve stem without imparting lateral thrust thereto,such might result after long use, in lateral wear of the ball races.This form of floating drive is recommended Where the seating means ofthe valve support is composed of two ball bearings spaced as closelytogether as indicated in this figure, but there is no limitation to theuse of this or any form of floating drive. A spring 32 contained withinand thrusting upwards against the skirted washer 33, tends to keep thevalve member in constant engagement with its seating means as in thecase of Fig. 1, counteracting the gravity of the valve. In both formsabove described, the only displacement of the valve member that canoccur `from the effect of wear is in a direction strictly conforming tothe axis of the valve so that the port-sealing function is notdisturbed.

In the case of dry-running valves controlling the engine inlet andespecially in valves controlling both inlet and exhaust, sometimescalled double-purpose valves, it is found that the ported part which isexposed to the flame transmits a large portion of the heat it absorbstherefrom to the liquid fuel particles in the incoming mixture, helpingit to vaporize and correspondingly improving the combustion and that ifthe absorbed heat is not conserved for this purpose, the vaporizationwill not only not be accomplished, but the ported part of the valvemember i. e. the dry-running part will become so cold by loss of itsheat that the gum deposit above referred to, will appear thereon. Bysurrounding the journaled part of the valve member with uncooled metal,such as is present in the valve support 9 or 25, or by air, or both, butwithout subjecting it to active cooling by such air or any other medium,the ported part can be kept above the gum-forming temperature and alsohigh enough to help in the vaporizing of the fuel although withoutdanger of reaching a temperature likely to affect the member injuriouslyas by warping or otherwise. In ordinary cases it is found that thesimple enclosure of a journaled part of the valve member' which islarger than its ported part, in a casing or housing such as indicated at25, in Fig. 3, is sufficient for the purpose and in the case of aircooled engines, that the exposure of the casing, or of the valve to thegeneral air flow, as in Fig. 1, will not produce an undesirably lowtemperature. In that figure the air flow is through the air holes 35 inthe surrounding wall of the valve support and through the spider l2 tothe fins 2 on the engine cylinder. When the blades 2l are used as theoil guard they are mounted on the valve member in such a way as not tobe the equivalent of heat transfer fins, so as thus to guard againstundue cooling of the valve member, but when the valve is arranged tocontrol only the exhaust port these same blades can be made to conductand dissipate the heat that will then be present.

It will thus be understand that the virtue in having the journal part oflarger diameter than the ported part lies first, in the attainmentthereby of a correct working temperature in the ported part, avoidingthe objections referred to under all conditions of use, and second, thefact that journal wear has the least effect upon the centralizedposition of that part, in reference to the ported chamber with which itcoacts.

Fig. 5 illustrates the same general organization as above described, inthe case where the valve is mounted on a plain bearing. In this form theenlarged journal part 35 of the valve seats against the correspondinglylarge seat surface 36 of the head structure providing a large area ofbearing surface and a greater diameter than that of the port-seatingpart with corresponding reduction of pressure per square inch and withthe other advantages above scheduled to be incident to the relativedimensions of the ported and journal parts of the valve.

I claim l. In an internal combustion engine, the combination of a valvechamber formed in the Wall of the combustion space, a rotary valvemember having a ported part within said chamber and a journaled part oflarger diameter outside thereof, said ported part and the valve chamberbeing respectively provided with closely opposed, dry-running surfacesin pressureless, port-sealing relation to each other, and avalve-supporting structure fitted to said wall, engaging said journaledpart and thereby centralizing the ported part in the valve chamber andcomprising journal means of larger diameter than the valve chambersubject to Wear. displacement only in the direction of the axis of thevalve.

2. In an internal combustion engine, the combination of a cylinder and arota-ry valve having its axis parallel with the cylinder axis and inline with the piston therein and comprising a valve chamber, a rotaryvalve member having a port-sealing part within said Chamber. subject tothe cylinder pressure in an endwise direction and a journaled part oflarger diameter than said chamber, the proximate surfaces of said portedpart and valve chamber being closely related in dry-running,port-sealing but pressureless Contact, and seating means engaging saidjournaled part adapted to sustain the endxvisc thrust and permit Weardisplacement of said valve member only in the direction of its axis.

In an internal combustion engine, the combination of a substantiallycylindrical valve chamber formed in the head Wall of the cylinder',parallel with the latter and having ports connecting with the inlet andexhaust passages thereof, a single rotary valve member having a partWithin said chamber provided with a port adapted to connect said chamberports to the combustion space and having a journaled part of largerdiameter than said ported part, and a "alve support tor said journaledpart comprising journal means subject to wear displacement only in thedirection ot the axis of the valve, said ported part and valve chamberbeing respectively provided with closely opposed, dry-running surfacesin pressureless, port-sealing relation to each other and adapted to bemaintained in such relation by said journal means.

4. In an internal combustion engine. the combination of a substantiallycylindrical valve chamber formed in the head wall ot` the cylindersubstantially concentric to the aXis of the latter, a rotary valvemember having a ported part Within said chamber exposed at its end tothe cylinder pressure and carried by a journaled part ot larger diameterthan said ported part, and a valvesupport Vtor said journaled partcomprising journal means arranged to center the valve member to thecasing by the effect of the endwise pressure on the valve member, said)orted part and valve chamber' being respectively provided With closelyopposed, dryrunning surfaces in pressureless, port-sealing relation toeach other and adapted to be maintained in such relation by said journalmeans.

5. In an internal combustion engine, the combination of a cylinder, arotary valve comprising a valve chamber.. a rotary valve member having aported part Within thc chamber, the proximate surfaces of said 'portedpart and chamber being closely reing closely related in dry-running,port-sealing but pressureless contact and having a journaled part abovesaid valve chamber, a supporting structure for said journaled partadapted to sustain the endvvise thrust thereof Without lateral Weardisplacement, and means for preventing lubricant on said part fromentering the valve chamber.

7. In an internal combustion engine, the combination of a valve chamber,a rotary valve member having a ported part within said chamber and ajournaled part outside thereof, and a radial enlargement between saidported part and the journal seat, said ported part and said valvechamber being respectively provided with closely opposed, dry-runningsurfaces in pressureless, portsealing relation to each other, and meansfor supporting the journaled part to maintain said ported part in saidrelation.

8, In an internal combustion engine, the combination of a valve chamber,a rotary valve member having a ported part Within said chamber and ajournaled part outside ot it, said ported part and chamber beingrespectively provided with opposed, dryrun a ing surfaces inpressureless, port-sealing relation to each other and a valve-suportingstructure engaging said journaled part and comprising an endvvisethrusting ball-bearing immediately adjacent, to and of greater diameterthan said ported part, and another bearing of less diameter spaced fromsaid ball-bearing.

9. In an internal combustion engine, the combination of a valve chamber,a rotary valve member having a ported part Within said chamber and alarger journaled part outside of it, the ported part and chamber beingrespectively provided with closely 0pposcd, dry-running surfaces inport-sealing, relation to each other, a structure for supporting saidjournaled part and means mounted on said lvalve support for rotating thevalve member.

10. In an internal combustion engine, the combination of a valvechamber, a rotary valve member having a ported part Within said chamberand a larger journaled part outside of it, the ported part and chamberbeing respectively provided with closely opposed, dry-running surfacesin port-sealing relation to each other, a gear Wheel surrounding thejournaled part ot the valve member and means for driving said gearWheel.

11. In an internal combustion engine, the combination of a valve chamberformed in the head Wall ot' the engine cylinder opposite the enginepiston, a rotary valve member having a journaled part of relativelylarge diameter and a ported part of relatively small diameter occupyingsaid chamber, a valve-supporting structure bolted to the cylinder,engaging and surrounding said journaled part and comprising one or morejournal bearings therefor.

12. In an internal combustion engine, the combination of a valve chamberprovided With inlet and exhaust ports, a rotary valve member having aported part within Said chamber eoaeting in dry-running relation to openand close said inlet and exhaust ports and having a part by which it issupported outside of said chamber, said latter part having a greaterdiameter and larger superlicial area than the part Within said chamber.

13. A rotary engine valve sustaining the cylinder pressure in an axialdirection, a seat 'for receiving the thrust, said seat having a largerprojected area than the area of the valve exposed to the cylinderpressure.

14. A rotary engine valve comprising a valve sealing part, and aseparate seating part, said parts functioning independently of eachother, the seating part having a larger projected area than the valvesealing part in order to reduce the driving load an being subject to thecylinder gas pressure in an axial direction.

1n testimony whereof, I have signed this speciiication.

JOHN GOOD.

